


silhouette

by lacksley



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Affirmations of Love, Alternate Selves, Banter, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, KuroFai Week, M/M, Minor Angst, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 16:46:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16538387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lacksley/pseuds/lacksley
Summary: Sometimes the walls between dimensions are thin, and things slip through. How different are they, really?Written for KuroFai week 2018, day 1: "Mirrors"





	silhouette

Fai looks up with a smile and a chocolate-covered biscuit in his mouth  _ (po-kee? is that what Syaoran called it?) _ to find someone who isn’t entirely Kurogane, but isn’t entirely  _ not _ Kurogane either. And like any sane person, he blurts out,

“Who are you?”

The Kuro-sama-but-not-Kuro-sama looks back at him with an expression of equal confusion and says, “That’s what I should be asking you.”

It was really impossible for Fai to find exactly  _ what  _ it was about Not-Kuro-sama that was different; how his hair was maybe  _ just  _ a bit more spiky than he thought it was, or the shade of his eyes just a  _ tad  _ more on the pinker side of red.

“I am who I am. Am I… me, but not me? To you?” He doesn’t know how to explain the thought creeping up the backside of his brain.

“You’re…” and Not-Kurogane blushes just a tiny bit, the smallest of red appearing on his cheeks. “You’re him. But… not.” It’s as if hearing Not-Kurogane vocalize it opens the floodgates, and Fai claps his hands together excitedly.

“Oh! Could this be like Masayoshi-kun? And Tomoyo-chan? You’re Kuro-sama from a different world?” Fai reaches his hand out and pokes at Not-Kurogane’s face. It’s comforting to find his cheeks are still squishy. Not-Kurogane reaches up to swipe his hand away, and an after-image of his arm is left behind, resting on his knee.

“Ah, wait,” Fai says, and shoves Not-Kurogane to the floor. What remains in the space he was upright in is some kind of illusion, and Fai knows it’s  _ his  _ Kuro-sama. He’s still, unmoving, and almost transparent. Waving a hand through the image doesn’t make it disperse, like Fai was passing a hand through light.

“Is that—” Not-Kurogane starts.

“My Kuro-sama,” Fai finishes. He scoots out of his own seat to see if there’s an illusion of Not-Him.

“Oh, look at that! It’s Not-Me! I wonder if he’s having a nice conversation with my Kuro-sama.” He winks at Not-Kurogane.

“Probably annoying the hell out of him,” Not-Kurogane grumbles. Fai laughs, and aims a kick at his shin. Not-Kurogane curses and shoves back, and their half-hearted wrestling leaves the images of their counterparts fixed, alone, motionless and staring at each other.

Laughing breathlessly, Fai straddles Not-Kurogane with an arm pinned behind his back, victorious.

“Still playful, even from another world.”

“Still an ass.” Fai squeezes his arm. He can’t tell if there’s metal and wires under the skin. Fai lets go like he’s burned, and Not-Kurogane sits up, noticing.

“Do you still—” Fai tries, and the words dry up in his throat. “Do you…” And it’s a silly, stupid thought that creeps its way into his head anyways, the idea that he doesn’t— That he’s from a different world, and things are probably different there, he should be surprised that Not-Kurogane even recognizes him, the circumstances of them meeting were astronomical to begin with, so why would he…

Fai doesn’t even notice the tears slipping out until Not-Kurogane brushes them away with his thumb in a  _ very  _ Kuro-sama gesture.

“I still love you,” he says, answering the question that Fai couldn’t bring himself to ask. “Different worlds couldn’t change that.”

Fai melts into him, pressing his face into his Not-shoulder as hard as he can, trying to breathe away the tears.

“Why are you crying,” Kurogane asks, and Fai rips his face out of his shoulder.

“You’re back.”

“I was gone?” Kurogane smirks and Fai pokes his cheek. Instead of the expected slap at Fai’s hand, Kurogane places a warm palm on his back, rubbing slow circles. “Why were you crying?”

“Just being silly.” Fai leans into his touch, and whispers, “Tell me that you love me.”

“I do,” Kurogane replies instantly. “Nothing’s gonna change that.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is actually the first trc thing I've ever published despite being in the fandom for nine years and despite this being my actual, _actual_ OTP, so... better late than never?


End file.
